The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

athletic conference. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

; the other full member is in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. The conference also has an associate member in North Carolina.

History

The conference was founded in May 1975 as the Virginia College Conference. On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1982–83, women's sports were added. In 1981, Catholic University joined the conference after leaving Division I's Colonial Athletic Association. In 1988, Virginia Wesleyan was added as a member, and, in 1990, Guilford became the first member located outside D.C. and Virginia.

Maryville College Maryville College is a private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The college is one of the ...

was an all-sports member in the 1980s. In 1989 Catholic left the conference to become a charter member of the Capital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member. The next school to leave the conference was

Mary Baldwin College Mary Baldwin University (MBU, formerly Mary Baldwin College) is a private university in Staunton, Virginia. It was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. Today, Mary Baldwin University is home to the Mary Baldwin College for Women, a resid ...

, which left in 1999 to join the

Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference The Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference was an eight-member college athletics conference founded in 1995 and given official status in 1999. It competed in NCAA Division III and as its name implies, only offered championships in women's sports. I ...

. In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition of

Shenandoah University Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences (including the Division of Education and Le ...

as a full-time member, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012–13 academic year. The league office moved its physical location from Salem, to

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

in eastern Bedford County located just outside centrally located Lynchburg, Virginia. They also contracted Jim Ward Design for its new marks. On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session. However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that will keep Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year. Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015–16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC. On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Catholic University would withdraw in 2017 as associate member to join the new football league at the

New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut and ...

. In June 2017, it was announced that Ferrum College would become the 15th full-time member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after it moved from the USA South Conference. Southern Virginia University, which joined the ODAC as a football only member in 2019, announced in December of that year that it will be leaving both the ODAC and Coast to Coast Athletic Conference to join the football-sponsoring USA South Athletic Conference as a full member. The conference has hosted Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which were held in Salem, Virginia. D-III softball has also used Salem as a championship host along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball on several occasions. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 80 Division III national championships. It was announced on November 17, 2020, that Emory & Henry College will leave the ODAC and begin its transition to Division II in July 2021 and compete in the

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...

in 2022. The most recent change in conference membership was announced on March 8, 2021, that Averett University will leave the USA South and join its former USA South counterpart Ferrum College in the ODAC as a full member in 2022.

Chronological timeline

* 1975 - The ODAC was founded as the Virginia Athletic Conference. Charter members included Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), Emory & Henry College, Hampden–Sydney College, Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg),

Randolph–Macon College Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in continu ...

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional pr ...

and

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

. However, it was renamed to become the Old Dominion Athletic Conference on 1 January 1976, effective beginning the 1976-77 academic year, their first year of competition. * 1980 -

Maryville University Maryville University of St. Louis is a private university in Town and Country, Missouri. It was originally founded on April 6, 1872 by the Society of the Sacred Heart and offers more than 90 degrees at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral l ...

joined the ODAC, effective in the 1980-81 academic year. * 1981 - Catholic University joined the ODAC, effective in the 1981-82 academic year. * 1982 - Women's sports were instated in the ODAC, also three women's sports institutions of

Hollins College Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...

(now Hollins University), Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College) and Sweet Briar College joined the ODAC, effective in the 1982-83 academic year. * 1984 -

joined the ODAC, effective in the 1984-85 academic year. * 1988 - Maryville left the ODAC, effective after the 1987-88 academic year. * 1989 - Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC, effective after the 1988-89 academic year. * 1989 - Virginia Wesleyan College (now Virginia Wesleyan University) joined the ODAC, effective in the 1989-90 academic year. * 1991 -

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...

joined the ODAC, effective in the 1991-92 academic year. * 1992 - Mary Baldwin left the ODAC, effective after the 1991-92 academic year. * 1999 - Catholic (D.C.) re-joined the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 1999 fall season (1999-2000 academic year). * 2012 -

joined the ODAC, effective in the 2012-13 academic year. * 2011 -

Greensboro College Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls about 1,000 students from 32 states, the District of Columbi ...

and Notre Dame of Maryland University joined the ODAC as associate members for women's swimming, effective in the 2011-12 academic year. * 2015 - Ferrum College joined the ODAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming, effective in the 2015-16 academic year. * 2016 - Notre Dame (Md.) left the ODAC as an associate member for women's swimming by discontinuing the sport, effective after the 2015-16 academic year. * 2017 - Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2016 fall season (2016-17 academic year). * 2018 - Ferrum upgraded to join the ODAC for all sports, effective in the 2018-19 academic year. * 2019 - Southern Virginia University joined the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2019 fall season (2019-20 academic year). * 2021 - Southern Virginia left the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2020 fall season (2020-21 academic year). * 2021 - Emory & Henry left the ODAC to join the Division II ranks of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) by becoming an NCAA D-II Independent in the 2021-22 academic year. They will join the

(SAC) in the 2022-23 academic year. Took effect following the 2020-21 academic year. * 2022 - Averett University announced that it will join the ODAC, effective in the 2022-23 academic year. * 2022 - Southern Virginia and Greensboro joined as associate members in men's wrestling in 2022–23 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The ODAC currently has 15 full members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

The ODAC currently has two associate member, which both of them are also private schools:

Former members

The ODAC has four former full members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Former associate members

The ODAC had three former associate members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

This timeline is expressed with color bars. DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1976 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Bridgewater (1976–present) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text: Eastern Mennonite (1976–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1976 till:2021 text: Emory & Henry (1976–2021) bar:4 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Hampden–Sydney (1976–present) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text: Lynchburg (1976–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Randolph–Macon (1976–present) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text: Roanoke (1976–present) bar:8 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:

Washington and Lee , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

(1976–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1980 till:1988 text: Maryville (Tenn.) (1980–1988) bar:10 color:Full from:1981 till:1989 text:

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(1981–1989) bar:10 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2017 text:(1999–2017) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text: Hollins (1982–present) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text: Randolph (1982–present) bar:13 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text: Sweet Briar (1982–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1984 till:1992 text: Mary Baldwin (1984–1992) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text: Virginia Wesleyan (1989–present) bar:16 color:Full from:1991 till:end text: Guilford (1991–present) bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text:

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

(2011–present) bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2016 text: Notre Dame (Md.) (2011–2016) bar:19 color:Full from:2012 till:end text: Shenandoah (2012–present) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2018 text: Ferrum (2018–present) bar:20 color:Full from:2018 till:end bar:21 shift:(-40) color:AssocF from:2019 till:2021 text: Southern Virginia (2019–2021; 2022–present) bar:21 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:22 shift:(-40) color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Averett (2022–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1976 Purple denotes football playing member.
Green denotes non-football playing member.
Red denotes associate member (football-only).
Blue denotes associate member (non-football).